Acing an interview — like any corporate challenge — often comes down to how well you can read others.
Pamela Meyer, the CEO of Calibrate, Inc., trains organizations in fraud detection, insider-threat mitigation, and security awareness. In her new book, “How to Read the Room,” she explores how social awareness shapes leadership, negotiations, and decision-making.
Learning to read others isn’t just a skill for leaders, says Meyer, a certified fraud examiner. It can help candidates make it to the next round of interviews.
“Reading the room is, it turns out, a foundational skill,” Meyer told Business Insider, adding that it’s “entirely teachable.”
Meyer writes that while job seekers may worry about stumbling over an interview question or forgetting to mention a key accomplishment, interviewers often form personality judgments based largely on nonverbal cues, including eye contact and nodding, rather than what candidates actually say.
Here are four interview power moves she recommends for standing out in the interview process:
Use the term “we”
Meyer said in her book that using plural pronouns, like “we” instead of “I,” makes a person seem more collaborative and can make you seem friendlier.
In general, Meyer said that candidates should also focus the conversation on how they’d work with the team, not just what they can accomplish on their own.
Deflect strategically
If the interviewer asks an inappropriate question about family or your personal life, Meyer wrote that candidates should gracefully redirect the conversation by asking another question. Doing so can increase hiring chances and likability more than telling the truth or confronting the interviewer, Meyer said.
In general, Meyer told Business Insider that people should “ask themselves religiously: Is what I’m going to say going to advance this conversation?” Many people fall in the trap of talking too much or over-explaining, but just because you’re prompted doesn’t mean you have to fill the silence or overshare.
“Speaking less — and more meaningfully — will give you outsized influence,” Meyer said.
Avoid filler words
Meyer said that speaking clearly and with fewer filler words, such as “um” or “like,” signals control rather than uncertainty. That may mean deliberately slowing down your speaking pace when answering questions. She suggests practicing answering prompts out loud and spontaneously, rather than memorizing specific responses.
She also advises using bold transitions in interviews like, “What matters more here is… .”
Finish strong
Meyer said a candidate’s initial responses correspond most with the overall success of the interview. However, a strong finish can make up for earlier weakness, she wrote in the book.
She said candidates should use the final minutes of the interview to ask thoughtful questions. Demonstrating curiosity is a crucial way to show confidence in an interview, rather than appearing overly excited or nodding your head a lot, she said.
“One of the best ways to seem confident is just to ask an interesting question and let it drop,” Meyer said, adding that the ideal style of confidence is “more contained, more thoughtful, and it’s more curious.”
